Safety catch and method of making the same



H. W. PETERS SAFETY CATCH AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME June 19, 1945.

Filed Oct. 21, 1943 jZiKPeZers INVENTOR.

r M ,w m 1 v Y B Patented June 19, 1945 SAFETY CATCH AND METHOD OFMAKING THE SAME Henry W. Peters, Water town, Mass. Application October21, 1943, Serial No. 507,141 2 Claims. (01. 24-157)' s This inventionrelates to safety catches of the type used with pins and other articlesof jewelry for the purpose of preventing the pin from becomingaccidentally unfastened.

Heretofore it hasbeen the practice to make safety catches of nickelsilver but under present conditions the use of nickel silver in themanufacture of jewelry and jewelry findings is not permitted.Consequently it has been necessary generally to utilize silver withoutthe nickel aly. Silver, however, reacts quickly to acids used forcleaning after soldering operations and, therefor, a silver wheel orretaining element, when cleaned with the base or body portion prior tosoldering said base to a pin, will quickly be destroyed with the resultthat replacements must be made.

Furthermore it has been the practice heretofore to place on the marketthe complete safety catch consisting of a base or body member *and awheel assembled at the factory. Thus should any part of the catch bemined it has been necessary to discard all of it.

An object of the present invention is to so construct the safety catchthat the base or body and the wheel can be marketed'separately orassembled as preferred, it being possible for the jeweler or otherpurchaser to readily assemble the wheel with a base after the base hasbeen soldered in position and without danger of solder joining the wheelto the base in such a manner as to render the device inoperative.

A stillfurther object is to provide a safety catch the parts of whichcan readily be formed bystamping, it being unnecessary, as heretofore,

to slot the parts after they have been assembled. Instead the presentinvention has for an object the production of a base and a wheel both ofwhich are slotted at the factory and can be assembled either at thefactory or by the purchaser.

Astill. further object is to provide a safety catch which can bemanufactured by a method which reduces considerably the number ofoperations heretofore required in the manufacture and assembly of thesedevices.

A still further object is to provide a safety catch which can beproduced of sterling silver, can be assembled by the purchaser afterattachment to the article to be equipped therewith, and does not requireslotting after assembly as heretofore.

A still further object is to provide a safety catch which permitstreatment with acid after the soldering operation but before theassembly of the wheel therewith so that there is no danger fastenerprior to being secured.

of this pinwheel being damaged by the acid during the cleaningoperation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds. the invention consists of certain novel steps inthe method and certain details of construction and combinations of partshereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it beingunderstood that changes may be made in the method disclosed and in theconstruction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spiritof the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawing the preferred form of the invention has beenshown.

Insaid drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an assembled safety catch greatlyenlarged and constructed in accordance with the present invention, a pinshank being shown in section in position in th Figure 2 is averticaltransverse section through the fastener showing the shank of thepin clamped by the safety catch so as to hold it against accidentalrelease.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the fastener with the parts positioned asshown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a section through the fastener taken on the lin 4-4, Fig. 2.

Figure 5 is a section through a partially closed blank from which thebase or body portion of the fastener is'formed.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the wheel;

As has already been stated, the drawing shows this structure greatlyenlarged. In practice it is to be quite small so as to be substantiallythe same size as safety catches commonly used on articles of jewelry.

Instead of forming the base with a slot, forcing the wheel into theslot, and then slotting across the wheel and base, as has been the prac.tice heretofore, the base is made by stamping it between dies to formopposed members each having a segmental recess. In Fig. 5' these membershave been indicated at I and 2 and the segmental recesses have beenindicated at 3. The bottom of the blank is formed with an angular recess4 so proportioned that when the members and 2 of the blank are foldedtogether. this bottom will flatten out to form a substantially flat baseas indicated at 5 in Figs. 1 and 2.

At the time of shaping the members I and and forming the recesses 3therein, each of said members is also provided witha side slot extendingthereinto from its outer-side edge as shown at 6, the inner end of eachslot being provided with a small recess or extension. The slot has beenindicated at 6 and the recess at 1.

Likewise, during the shaping operation, each recess 3 is formed with alateral extension 8 which can define a portion of a truncated cone andthe top edges of the members I and 2 at the sides thereof are cut awayas at 9. Y-shaped, recesses are located in the sides .of the blankbetween the cut-away portion 9 and the angular recess 4. Thus whentheblank is folded after it has been shaped, the angle 4 will bestraightened out to form the base and the opposed edges of the V-shapedrecesses will come together as indicated at H in Figs. 1 and 2. Thecut-away portion 9 will cooperate to provide a slot in the base openingupwardly as shown at l2 andthe extensions 8 of the recesses 3 willcooperate to provide substantially frusto-conical recesses l3-intersected by the slot 12. The inner end of the slot l2 can besemicircular and define an are about acenter M. This center, however,preferably does not coincide with the axial center of the frusto-conicalrecesses I3 and the arcuate recesses'3.

The wheel member of the safety catch can be of any shape desired but inthe present instance is formed of oppositely extended substantiallyfrusto-conical bearing portions l5 proportioned to fit snugly within therecesses l3 when the parts are assembled. From the central portion ofthis wheel is extended a small finger piece l6 which can be providedadjacent to its junction with the wheel, with oppositely extended stopsH. The wheel has a slot l8 extending longitudinally thereof, the innerwall thereof being rounded to define a semicircle, as shown.

It will be apparent that the two parts of the safety catch can. readilybe stamped of metal between dies and they can be supplied to the tradeas separate blanks or, if preferred; after they have been assembled; Ifthe parts are assembled at the factory, the operation. is effectedsimply by placing the wheel with the bearing portions IS in the recessesl3 of the open blank with the finger piece [6 extended through one ofthe slots 6.. The two members I and 2 are then pressed toward each otherso as to close the recess l0 and tighten the walls of the recesses 3 and8 about the'wheel. As these recesses are not concentricwith the centerof the circle indicated by the inner ends of the slots l2, it will beapparent thatwhen the finger piece I6 is at one extreme position and theslot I8 is alined with the slot l2. said slot I8 will extend fartherinto the base than will the slot l2. This has been indicated by brokenlines'in Fig. 1.

The base can be fastened to the article of jewelry by solder in theusual way although, where silver is used, care must-be exercised in theemployment of acid for cleaning purposes. After the base hasbeen'a'ttached, the shank S of a pin can be moved into the alined slotso as to come against the inner walls of the slot I2. Thereafter bymoving the finger piece Hi from one extreme position to the other, thewheel'will be inverted and as this wheel is offcenter the inversion ofthe wheel will cause the inner end wall of the slot l8 to-straddle shankS and bind the shank tightly upon the inner end walls of the slots l2.In this connection see Fig. 2. Thus a tight fastener is provided becauseof this frictional contact or gripping of the shank as well as thefrictional contact'between the'wheel and the base.

The shoulders H on the finger piece serve to enter the recesses I andthus limit the movement of the finger piece in both directions.

If the parts are to be assembled by the jeweler in such a way as toavoid damage due to displacement of solder and to the use ofcleaningacid, said base is joined to the article of jewelry by placing solder inthe recess 4 so as to join the base to its support. The base is thentreated with acid after which the wheel is forced into the base and theopposed portions of the base pressed together to firmly grip the wheel.Thus the parts are assembled neatly and accurately and the number ofoperations heretofore required to obtain the same results are reducedmaterially.

As the parts are formed bystamping metal between dies, it is possible toprovide the base with suitable ornamentation as shown for example inFig. i. This has not been possible heretofore. Furthermore it ispossible to produce them at high speed, accurately and neatly and as itis possible for the jeweler to assemble the parts, he can readily makereplacements of the wheel when necessary simply by spreading the base,inserting a new wheel and then pressing the exposed portions of the basetoward each other to bind on the inserted wheel.

Obviously the structure illustrated, in addition to being greatlyexaggerated in size, need not necessarily be of the proportions orconfiguration illustrated. Changes can be made in the shape of the baseand of the wheel. It is essential in any case that the parts he so madethat they can be formed by stamping and that the wheel can be assembledwith the base .either before or after thebase has been soldered in placeand without the necessity of slotting the parts after they have beenassembled.

What is claimed is:

1. A safety catch for jewelry and the like including a base consistingof integral opposed recessed members cooperating to provide a transverseslot, a substantially double frusto-conical recess intersected by theslot, and side slots in the respective members opening into oppositesides respectively of'the'first named slot, and a wheel having bearingportions engaged within the recesses in the opposed members, said wheelhaving a longitudinal slot movable into and out of register-with thefirst named slot, and a finger piece extending from the wheel andmovable within the side slots. I

2. A safety catch including a base comprising integral opposed memberseach having a slot extending thereinto from its free end, said memberscooperating to provide a shank-receiving slot therebetween, there beingrecesses in the members cooperating to provide hearings in the members,and a longitudinally slotted wheel seated within the bearings andgripped by the opposed members, the slot in said wheel being movableinto and out of register with the shankreceiving slot, and a fingerpiece extending from the wheel and beyond one of the side slots andconstituting means for rotating the wheel to move its slot into and outof register with the shank-receiving slot in the base, said wheel beingeccentrically'mounted within the base and the inner ends of theshank-receiving slots in the wheel and base cooperating to grip aninserted shank when the wheel is turned from one position to another;

HENRY W. PETERS.

